The 12.2 million barrels a day mark comes less than a year after the United States surpassed 11 million barrels a day, in what had been a record at the time.

"The U.S. onshore crude oil production increase is driven mainly by developing low permeability (tight) formations using horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing. EIA estimates that crude oil production from tight formations in April 2019 reached 7.4 million b/d, or 61% of the U.S. total," the report read.

Texas alone produced almost 5 million barrels a day in April, up more than 25 percent from the beginning of 2018. And much of that growth has come in the Permian Basin, an aged oil field revived by new drilling technology.

"Despite pipeline capacity constraints, the Permian region's month-over-month growth averaged nearly 100,000 b/d for almost all of 2018. Industry efficiencies in pipeline utilization and increased trucking and rail transport in the region have allowed crude oil production to continue to grow," the report read.